A YOUNG girl who was allegedly raped by three generations of her family was beaten after telling her mum about the abuse, a court heard.
The girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she was raped and assaulted by her dad, grandfather and two brothers.
Lewes Crown Court heard the horrific attacks lasted until she was 12-years-old.
The girl’s father is accused of lashing her with a horse-whip, burning her with cigarettes, and repeatedly raping her.
Her brother, who is ten years her senior, allegedly began abusing her from when she was six-years-old.
The court heard he began raping her when she was nine and would resort to bribery or physical attacks if she refused.
The young girl told the jury how, after telling her mother about the abuse by the men in the family, she was beaten, tied up, locked in a cupboard and burnt with lighters and candle wax.
“I told mum and she hit me,” she said.
“Mum tied me up with ropes and then locked me in the cupboard for a day or two without feeding me.”
Her mother is also accused of beating her with several metal and wooden objects.
She also burned the youngster and would rub salt on the wounds so they never healed properly, the court heard.
In a harrowing recorded interview lasting three hours, the girl recounted horrific details of abuse she said she suffered at the hands of her closest family.
During the interview, the youngster rolled up her sleeve to show police interviewers the scars on her wrist and arm.
She said her dad would burn her as punishment. “He used to burn me with cigarettes a lot,” she said.
The girl said she was made to cover her injuries with makeup.
“When mum was out, he used to touch me,” she said about the alleged rape by her dad.
As the recording played in court, her dad and brothers hunched over the edge of the dock, resting their chins on folded arms.
Her mum, dad and both brothers sat together at one end of the dock
and none showed any emotion as the girl talked police through the sexual abuse.
Sussex Police were called after the girl, now aged 13, told school staff she was too scared to go home.
She has been living in foster care since January.
The girl said: “I was really scared to go back home because I knew mum and dad would hit me a lot.
“I said I don’t feel comfortable going home because of my parents.
“I told how my parents keep abusing me and they’ve been doing it for years.
“Then I started explaining all the sexual stuff,” the girl said.
When she tried to tell her mother about the sexual abuse, the girl said she was beaten.
The girl said her mother would take money she was given by other family members.
“Sometimes I get money for Eid. My mum would take it away and spend it.
The child was also sexually abused by her grandfather, the court was told.
“He came round on Christmas Day because he knows we don’t celebrate it and he done it,” she said.
The girl’s mother has accused her daughter of lying and begged her father “was too old to be in prison for life”.
The jury was told the girl said she had lied in later police interviews about being locked in a cupboard.
She also told police she “wanted to protect her family at court” because they would but in “a worse position”.
But Jennifer Knight KC said: “The prosecution suggest however that she gave truthful accounts in January and March of this year, when she described at length the conditions of her home life, and the abuse she has suffered at the hands of both her grandfather, parents and siblings.
“You may think she has found the pressure of telling the truth about her family too much to bear, particularly in the face of her mother’s having impressed upon her the many ways in which she has ruined all their lives.”
Six members of the same family deny rape, sexual assaults, ABH, child cruelty, false imprisonment and perverting the course of justice.
The trial at Lewes Crown Court in Hove continues.
AlamyThe harrowing case is being heard at Lewes Crown Court[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
